Etruscan Husband: We need some banquet vases bc my uncle Larth just died
Greek Merchant, handing over symposium pottery: of course sir here’s a batch fresh from Athens,
Etruscan Wife, examining the gay sex heavy pottery : …. Where are all the women on these…
Greek Merchant, knowing he won’t make the sale if he says wifes not allowed: Well…. They’re watching.
God I cannot remember where I found this but Athenian vases found in Etruria had considerably less homosexual content than vases found in Athens. Athenian potters literally knew they had to straightwash for their export business.
It actually goes further than that; even though women besides sex workers weren’t allowed in Athenian (and maybe other cities?) symposia / banquets, beyond just selecting straighter pots to sell, Greek pottery made for export to Etruria often purposefully depicted men and women of the same social status (ie both wearing fancy outfits) dining together bc Etruscan wives went to banquets with their husbands and weren’t excluded. they also would do sports scenes with loincloths on the athletes bc Etruscans didn’t do sports naked
